Five Easy Ways to Make AR-15 Lower Receivers at Home

It’s still very much legal to build your own firearms for personal use at home. Lots of shooters enjoy the process and many also appreciate the fact that their firearm doesn’t appear in any record or database.

If an AR-15 is on your build list, the normally serialized part of the rifle — the part that’s legally a gun — is the lower receiver. But this is something you can do yourself. There are at least five easy ways to make AR-15 receivers at home.

1. Purchase an 80% blank and finish it with a drill, files and a little patience. It gets easier with a Dremel type tool. Or use a drill, a mill and some skill. There are plenty of sellers of 80% lowers out there and many videos on how to do it yourself.

2. Purchase an 80% receiver and finish it with a CNC machine, i.e. the Ghost Gunner. Order it on the Internets. The Ghost Gunner has an excellent reputation for creating quality receivers. Defense Distributed is expanding their line to include several different pistol models, including GLOCK and government model 1911s.

3. Bolt one together from properly sized aluminum sheets/blocks. Some drilling and tapping required. Specs and templates are available on the Internet. This has great potential for building at home. I have not found any kits, but these should be easy to create.

4. Print a lower with a 3D printer. Code and 3D machines are available on the Internet. 3D-printed receivers have been improved much since the first ones were printed as proofs of concept. They tend to be the least durable of the homemade receivers because of the common materials used in inexpensive 3D printers, such as ABS and Nylon. As 3D printers continue to become cheaper and more versatile, the durability of 3D printed receivers will continue to improve.

5. Cast your own out of an epoxy resin. Molds, resin and instructions are available on the Internets. Reviews of this method indicate it makes a fairly durable and tough receiver. Probably not be as tough as aluminum, but they work fairly well.

All of these methods have been shown to work reasonably well, requiring various amounts of time and money. These aren’t the only methods available, either. There are many combinations available depending on tools, time, and materials. For example, there are hybrid designs that print out smaller parts that can then be bolted together.

All of the information is available to mill an AR-15 receiver from a block of aluminum. Some have used this method, but it takes more time, skill, and effort than the others listed.

You don’t have to buy over the internet, either. Troll the aisles at a local gun show and you’re likely to find a few of these available. Sold as kits for cash and carry, they leave no digital or paper trail. The kits are simply information and materials, sometimes with a few basic tools.

Assembling kits is a simple matter. It would be a great money making project for a gun club or a gun rights group to promote both First Amendment and Second Amendment rights, self reliance, and personal independence, all at once. The systems are inexpensive enough to be a good money-making project for a church group, Trail Life, 4-H Club, or Boy Scout troop, if they can develop enough spine for it.

There are, but the more common PLA plastic can be burned out in a similar manner for a “lost PLA” casting. Alternatively, a PLA or ABS printed can be used to make a rubber mold, which is then filled with wax for “lost wax” casting.

NOT in commie kalifornia. Now it’s huge expensive pain in the backside. The gray suited Sacramento AHOLE overlords have destroyed that hobby! Of course, only LEGAL LAW-ABIDING AMERICAN CITIZENS will comply. Criminals and nut jobs, not so much. FRACK FRACK FRACK……

“It’s still very much legal to build your own firearms for personal use at home” IN MOST BUT NOT ALL STATES. What is legal under federal law is not necessarily legal under state law.

As noted, you can build an 80% lower in California, but you HAVE TO OBTAIN A SERIAL NUMBER FROM THE STATE AND PASS A BACKGROUND CHECK before you do. Further, you must engrave the number on the receiver before you start the build. Third, you can ONLY build a “featureless” rifle.

I am pretty sure that it is illegal to build ARs in NY, NJ, Conn. and maybe Mass and Md., i.e., any state that regulates and requires registration of such firearms.

$339 for the resin, and mold. You can just about get a whole, new AR for that price. Yeah it’s on paper, but I can’t bring myself to pay those prices. Good thing I’m not in the market for any rifles. Good to go in that department.

If you are referring to me, as a FUDD I’m 54, and have got my colletion where I need it, and not one hunting rifle or shotgun. All mine are for when SHTF. Now I am concentrating on ammo, and survival food. I feel comfortable with the ammo supply I have, but if I see a deal I’ll pick it up. Plenty of water, meds, and my wife and I are medically trained. She is a nurse, and I was a combat medic. I even have full NBC gear, and other goodies. I fall more in the prepper camp.

There are definitely flat-stock lower kits available, but all the ones I’ve seen need to be welded together. Upside, they cost anywhere from $15 to $40 and will be much sturdier than any of the plastic options. Downside, you need to have a welder and the skill to use it.

Which brings up a point that wasn’t mentioned in the article: whichever option you pick, make sure that it’s one that you have the skill to complete yourself. You can’t, for instance, buy a flat-stock kit and have your brother-in-law weld it together for you, any more than you can buy an 80% lower and have a machinist finish it for you. Either situation would be considered illegal manufacturing; if you are making a firearm for personal use, it has to be you, personally, making it.

Bad news. The ATF just sent Safety Harbor Firearms a letter stating that their .50 cal bolt action ar upper is a firearm since it contains a receiver! Look for all uppers to be reclassified just like lowers, requiring a serial # and an FFL transfer.